As we wait to kick off our exploration of Core Set 2019 next week, we’re heading to Modern this week to play one of my favorite cards from Dominaria: Naban, Dean of Iteration. The plan of the deck is simple: basically annoy our opponent to death with tricky enters-the-battlefield Wizards before eventually attacking our opponent’s lands with Venser, Shaper Savant and Restoration Angel (to blink Venser, Shaper Savant). While the deck doesn’t look that powerful on paper, it has a ton of synergy and tiny bits of value that hopefully add up to a win. Plus, in Modern, we don’t have to worry about Goblin Chainwhirler killing our creatures. In some ways, this is the Modern version of the Nabanamonicon deck we played on Against the Odds a while ago in Standard (although without any literal Panharmonicons), and while playing a very Standard-looking deck in Modern probably seems strange, the fact that we don’t have to worry about Goblin Chainwhirler sweeping our Naban in 40% of our matches actually makes the deck oddly better in the older format. Can Naban, Dean of Iteration form the foundation of a solid budget deck in Modern? Let’s get to the video and find out!